Friday, Dec. 2 - Finals Prep Night
vs. Sonoma State (1-1, 0-1 CCAA)
Pioneer Gym - Hayward
5:30 p.m.
Live Stats
Friday, Dec. 3
vs. Humboldt State (4-0, 1-0 CCAA)
Pioneer Gym - Hayward
5:30 p.m.
Live Stats
HAYWARD, Calif. – Following a four-game road stint to kick off the season, the Cal State East Bay women's basketball team will play its home opener and dive into CCAA play this weekend at Pioneer Gym. The Pioneers (2-2, 0-0 CCAA) are set to host Sonoma State on Friday before meeting Humboldt State on Saturday, with both games slated for a 5:30 p.m. tip.
East Bay is coming off an 11-day break from competition after earning two weekend splits to open the season. The Pioneers picked up wins over Dominican and Central Washington during the CCAA/PacWest Challenge and the SPU/Sodexo Tip-Off Classic, respectively. Cal State East Bay is on its way to topping last season's win total, having already accumulated half as many wins as it posted in 2010-11.
Sophomore
Sarah Finlay is pacing the Pioneers so far, averaging 12 points per game to rank 12th in the league. Finlay is also East Bay's best three-point shooter, knocking down 66.7 percent of her shots from long range, second only to Humboldt State's Patrice Saindon. Just behind Finlay is freshman
Micah Walker, who has made an immediate impact for the Pioneers, averaging 11.7 points and 2.3 assists per game. Fellow freshman
Carly Bettencourt is shooting 47.1 percent from the field to lead the team and junior
Marlene MacMillan is averaging 7.5 points and a team-leading 6.8 boards per game. MacMillan ranks 11th in the CCAA in rebounds, while her 2.5 steals per game are tied for sixth in the conference.
As a team, the Pioneer defense has been among the best in the conference, allowing just 55.5 points per contest to tie for fourth in the CCAA. In addition, East Bay leads the league in field goal percentage defense, holding their first four opponents to just 30 percent shooting from the field. The Pioneers have also found success from long range, ranking second in the CCAA with their 43.1 shooting from beyond the arc.
This weekend, East Bay will look to start off the conference campaign on the right foot against two teams that it has gone 2-6 against over the past two seasons. Victories over the Jacks and Seawolves have made up one third of the Pioneers' wins since 2009-10, including a resounding 67-46 victory over Sonoma State on the road last season. In addition, the margin of victory in three of the six losses to HSU and SSU over the past two years was fewer than eight points.
Scouting the Seawolves
Sonoma State comes into the weekend with just two games under its belt, having topped Colorado Mesa in overtime to kick off the season before falling to Humboldt State, 57-54, in its conference opener on Nov. 26. The Seawolves have three players averaging around nine points per game, led by Travis Newman's 9.5 per contest. Meanwhile, Marie Sweet is leading Sonoma's rebounding efforts with 5.5 per contest, in addition to her nine points per game. The Seawolves are tied with the Pioneers at fourth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 55.5 points per game and also rank fourth in the CCAA in blocks and assists. The two teams are on opposite ends of the spectrum at the free-throw line, where Sonoma State is knocking down 81 percent of its shots compared to the Pioneers' league-worst 61.4 percent shooting from the charity stripe. Last year, East Bay and Sonoma split the season series, with the Seawolves picking up a 60-56 victory in Hayward before falling to the Pioneers at home.
Judging the Jacks
Humboldt State enters its first CCAA road trip of the season undefeated and is coming off a 57-54 win over Sonoma State on Nov. 26 to open the season 4-0. The Jacks rank among the league leaders in nearly every statistical category and currently are the best rebounding team in the CCAA, averaging 43.8 boards per game, including a league-leading 29.3 defensive rebounds per contest. Averaging 67.5 points per contest, the Jacks are second in the conference in scoring margin, outscoring opponents by more than 13 points per game. Four Humboldt players are averaging double-digit points so far, including Lisa Petty's 15.3 points per game, which ranks fourth in the league. Bree Halsey's eight boards per game lead the team's rebounding efforts, while Whitney Howard's 57.1 percent shooting percentage is the best in the conference. Other league leaders for the Jacks include Patrice Saindon's 80 percent shooting from three-point range and Caitie Richards' three steals per game. During the 2010-11 campaign, HSU completed the season sweep over the Pioneers, topping East Bay by an average of 13.5 points.
Finals Prep Night Promotion
Cal State East Bay students that come to the game this Friday can win free food from Chipotle and Bronco Billy's and free t-shirts from Pioneer Athletics. The first 200 students will receive a scantron to help get ready for finals week.
